01-28-2014, 12:32 PM | #1 |
Imperfect Perfectionist
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New players in the ePub editor market ...
Two new ePub editors have come to life (or rather one, since they obviously are the same software under different names and version-numbers :
Coolmuster SignPub: http://www.coolmuster.com/signpub.html and iStonsoft ePub Editor Pro: http://www.istonsoft.com/epub-editor.html# I've tried them both (for about ten minutes ) and find them lacking things as spellcheck, filesplitting, sourcecode editing etc., which we are used to in Sigil and the Calibre Editor. Given that, I find the price tags of $ 49.95 and $ 35.95 a wee bit stiff. Also, I have previously mentioned the Fosfor ePub editor https://blogs.oracle.com/geertjan/en...b_open_toolbox, but sadly the programmer doesn't seem to do any work on it (Despite his claims to the opposite, nothing has been done for around 9 months). I stumbled upon this http://www.epubgen.com/software some time last year, but there doesn't seem to be a real, downloable piece of software to download, despite the nice pictures ... strange ... Regards, Kim |
01-28-2014, 01:06 PM | #2 |
Wizard
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The first two have looked very closely (at least) at an older version of Sigil...
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01-28-2014, 03:41 PM | #3 |
Grand Sorcerer
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In fact, installing Coolmuster SignPub and then browsing the executable for Sigil turns up
Spoiler:
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01-28-2014, 03:44 PM | #4 |
Grand Sorcerer
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Likewise, iStonsoft ePub Editor Pro displays
Spoiler:
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01-28-2014, 04:14 PM | #5 |
Well trained by Cats
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Is that legal?
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01-28-2014, 04:26 PM | #6 |
Grand Sorcerer
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I *sense* the answer is NO, but I reckon we need user_none to jump in here...
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01-28-2014, 06:00 PM | #7 | |
Ex-Helpdesk Junkie
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Quote:
No attribution, they made a derived work and charged for it as if it were their own. So unless he gave over the rights (is it licensed to him? He is the lead developer, but he didn't originally create it, he took over.) they are illegal. |
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01-28-2014, 06:07 PM | #8 | |
Grand Sorcerer
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According to the FSF, yes, but they must also release the modified source code:
Quote:
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01-29-2014, 07:55 AM | #9 | |
frumious Bandersnatch
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Quote:
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02-21-2014, 09:51 PM | #10 |
Sigil & calibre developer
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Both sites are very similar and both use the same assets (screen shots). Even a lot of their products appear to be the same. Most likely they're really the same.
That said, yes it is a GPL violation if they're using Sigil's code and not releasing it. Unfortunately, there isn't very much that can can be done. Some of you might remember that we had this happen with calibre. My options are 1) try to sue them, 2) publicly shame them into doing the right thing. 1) is costly, time consuming and if they're not in the USA (where I am) it might not be an option at all. 2) This only works the violators actually want to do the right thing. This is the reality of the situation. While it sucks, it is what it is. |
02-22-2014, 06:28 AM | #11 |
Fuzzball, the purple cat
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I don't think they're in the US. There are a lot of strange English phrasings on the web sites if you read carefully. How strange that coolMuster and iStonsoft are so similar. Almost like some kind of web site sock-puppeting.
Last edited by willus; 02-22-2014 at 09:39 PM. |
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